Hurricanes at Red Wings preview

HURRICANES (27-24-10) at RED WINGS (24-26-10)
7 p.m. ET; FS-D, FS-CR, NHL.TV

The Hurricanes are in an 0-3-1 slide after losing 6-1 at home to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday. They are one point behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Carolina center Jordan Staal is expected to miss his second straight game to be with his wife as she gives birth.
The Red Wings are 0-2-1 in their past three games and are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. The Red Wings, who are seven points behind the Blue Jackets, have scored two goals or fewer in 10 of their past 14 games.

Players to watch

Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past seven games. He leads Carolina with 21 goals in 57 games.
Red Wings center Henrik Zetterberg is second on the team with 41 points (eight goals, 33 assists), but has scored two goals in his past 23 games.

They said it

"They outworked us and they showed they wanted it more. Our response was poor, very poor. That's frustrating, because we have to be better." -- Hurricanes forward Justin Williams after the loss to Pittsburgh
"We're trying to win hockey games, and I'm going to put the lineup out there that gives us the best chance to win. I'm fully aware Jimmy (Howard) plays great at Madison Square Garden, but I'm also aware Carolina is a team we have to track down to make the playoffs." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill on the possibility of starting Howard Saturday and Sunday

Hurricanes projected lineup

Sebastian Aho -- Elias Lindholm -- Teuvo Teravainen
Jeff Skinner -- Derek Ryan -- Lee Stempniak
Brock McGinn -- Victor Rask -- Justin Williams
Joakim Nordstrom --
Josh Jooris
-- Phillip Di Giuseppe
Jaccob Slavin -- Brett Pesce
Haydn Fleury -- Justin Faulk
Noah Hanifin -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Scott Darling
Cam Ward
Scratched: Klas Dahlbeck, Jordan Staal
Injured: None

Red Wings projected lineup

Anthony Mantha -- Henrik Zetterberg -- Gustav Nyquist
Tomas Tatar -- Dylan Larkin -- Andreas Athanasiou
Darren Helm -- Frans Nielsen -- Justin Abdelkader
Tyler Bertuzzi -- Luke Glendening -- David Booth
Danny DeKeyser -- Nick Jensen
Jonathan Ericsson -- Trevor Daley
Niklas Kronwall -- Xavier Ouellet
Jimmy Howard
Jared Coreau
Scratched: Martin Frk, Luke Witkowski
Injured: Mike Green (upper body)

Status report

Neither team held a morning skate. … Green practiced Friday and could return after missing Detroit's past four games. Mantha will play with a full face shield after fracturing his cheekbone on Thursday.

Stat pack

Skinner has six points (five goals, one assist) in his past seven games. … Nielsen has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past 10 games.